The only Virgil Fox recording I ever owned was an LP on the Phase 4
Stereo label. It may be listed on the website - I haven't looked. The
organ, as I recall, was unidentified, and most of the liner notes had to
do with the wonders created by the record company engineers. Anyway,
the repertoire consisted of the Bach Em (Wedge) P & F, "Nun freut euch
lieben Chrisen gmein," the Gigout B minor Sortie, and the Reger "Wie
schoen leuchtet" Fantasia & Fugue. I was pretty young when I got that
record, and of course at the time I thought it was a humdinger. The
Reger performance still is, in my own mind, and when I hear any other
performance of the piece I automatically think of that Fox recording.
Others may know of some that measure up to it - I haven't heard any that
are so compelling.
The other thing that has stuck with me is something he did in the
penultimate measure of the Gigout. Instead of just making the E-E
octave jump, he made a either a gliss or a very rapid chromatic run down
to the low E just before the last B major chord, and it sounded like he
did it on the pedalboard although I suppose he could have played it on
the great and added the pedal E. It was, of course, his own show-off
addition, but it made perfect sense in the music. Does anybody know how
in hell he did it?
I never heard him live, and I never listened to any of the "heavy organ"
stuff. None of that held any interest for me. But that old LP
convinced me that somewhere under all that glitter there was a real
musician.
Rick Dostie
Fairfield, ME USA
Rich B wrote:
> Virgil Fox: Judging his musicianship
>
> Sebastian M. Gluck wrote:
>
> During the past half century, many who know of Virgil Fox have asked why he
> needed the accoutrements, and why he had the need to shock in ways that were
> completely unrelated to the music. Many still want to know if his
> musicianship could stand on its own, without the "act." The answer might be
> to listen objectively to the recordings, and see if they make musical and
> emotional sense to us.
> _______________
>
> Sebastian poses a fair test. Listen for yourself and judge. Of the dozens
> of Virgil’s recordings, the ones listed below are among my favorites and
> will serve as recommendations. They span Virgil’s career from the mid
> 1950s at Riverside all the way until 1979, the year before his passing.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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